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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-14-2013 02:48 PM

TMDJ5

I'm looking for a new project. Anybody have any experience or know of anybody who's baked their tail lights. I've done my headlights and painted then black, but now I want to do the rear light. Anyone know if its the same procedure?

01-10-2013 01:20 AM

indy_11

lol i know, i've seen it. just the woes of living northeast :( thankfully it hasn't snowed here (yet)

01-10-2013 01:15 AM

A7xschecter6661

Quote:

Originally Posted by indy_11

its so dirty but i guess i know what my car will look like with a 3dcarbon kit. thanks lol

3d carbon kit is freakin awesome! I love it!

It's dirty because we had some big storms, they salt and sand the crap out of the roads and I had to drive 40 miles on back roads to get to the dealership my mom works at :(

During the summer I keep her beautiful though. Washed and waxed constantly! Of course this pic was before 99% of my mods

01-10-2013 12:55 AM

indy_11

Quote:

Originally Posted by A7xschecter6661

Do the 3D Carbon Kit! I got my kit for $442 shipped and got the pieces painted and an alignment for $200 (this was under the table at the dealership my mom works at). It is the best thing I have done to my car. A couple of my friends were like dude we can't believe you bought a grandma car and it looks like this now!

old rims

new ses rims, excuse the dirt!

its so dirty but i guess i know what my car will look like with a 3dcarbon kit. thanks lol

01-10-2013 12:52 AM

indy_11

lower it

buy an intake (tune is recommended)

paint the outline of your tails

purchase an exhuast (these cars aren't mine. my exhaust is not made anymore so it'd be pointless)

ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.

keep the ses badge

i wouldn't plastidip your wheels because...well i'm against it. but this is what they would look like black

^^^this is the frpp kit everyone is recommending

tip: the buy-sell-trade section is your friend. I haven't hit $1000 in mods and i'm in college so i know how you feel. only thing I've bought brand new is my springs. happy modding. and if you have any questions or would lke more suggestions feel free to pm me. or anyone you wish. hope it's a manual. good looking car.

01-09-2013 11:46 PM

A7xschecter6661

Quote:

Originally Posted by crice8

But you see, you are assuming everyone here has a nice paint setup, compressor, etc. Most people don't. I could have drove home to my parents to do it but here at college I have an apt and no means to setup a full booth. many members here do not posses the skills nor the space much less the equipment needed for good results. So the body shops must factor in all overhead costs as well as equipment usage costs and such. All im getting at is, don't talk him into buying the kit then telling him it will only cost about $200 to have it painted lol. He will end up with a kit sitting in the corner for a long time unpainted and uninstalled.

The only way to learn is to try

My first car I got the GT body panels and bumpers and went to town! Couple runs in the clear coat but no biggy. Then I learned about single stage paint and painted a motorcycle for my mom. It came out awesome!

Any my gun was like 20 years old and my air compressor is tiny!

01-09-2013 06:17 PM

crice8

Quote:

Originally Posted by A7xschecter6661

here's my issue with body places. You are paying for a skill. They know you will pay it because you don't know how to do it yourself. I prepped the pieces right there in front of the shop manager and he said I don't expect to see you even done with these 4 pieces within an hour. 45 minutes later I asked him ok what's next?

So Lets call it one hour to prep and $100-125 for paint.
Painting doesn't take long, you walk in the booth. Lay a coat on all the pieces and walk out. Total time consumed in set up and paint is less than 2 hours.

Totals
$125 for paint
3 Hours of prep and paint.

So at your figure of $700 you are paying the guy nearly $200 an hour to paint

Uhm how about no? lol

So if you don't know what you are doing or how it works they take advantage of you. The guy that did my kit was happy to get paid shop time to paint it, he even then got paid to help me install it and I threw him a tip. Don't let them take advantage of you, most of the time you're paying for is them waiting/working on something else.

But you see, you are assuming everyone here has a nice paint setup, compressor, etc. Most people don't. I could have drove home to my parents to do it but here at college I have an apt and no means to setup a full booth. many members here do not posses the skills nor the space much less the equipment needed for good results. So the body shops must factor in all overhead costs as well as equipment usage costs and such. All im getting at is, don't talk him into buying the kit then telling him it will only cost about $200 to have it painted lol. He will end up with a kit sitting in the corner for a long time unpainted and uninstalled.

01-09-2013 12:21 PM

A7xschecter6661

Quote:

Originally Posted by crice8

Yeah my car did not come with painted door handles or mirror covers as it was an se. so I was having the 3dcarbon front lip and the primered handles and mirror caps all painted at the same time. My quotes just to have these items painted ranged from $290-428. And that was just to have them painted. I found a guy who did body work on the side for cheap but even then it cost me $220 and he was doing it out of his garage with his paint setup. When i asked a couple of the body shops what the whole kit would cost to be painted( i had 4 unpainted full kits at the time and 5 of varying colors at my apt haha) they said somewhere in the ballpark of $575-700 to paint the full kit. I sold the fully pre painted kits to members on here for $350 shipped lol

here's my issue with body places. You are paying for a skill. They know you will pay it because you don't know how to do it yourself. I prepped the pieces right there in front of the shop manager and he said I don't expect to see you even done with these 4 pieces within an hour. 45 minutes later I asked him ok what's next?

So Lets call it one hour to prep and $100-125 for paint.
Painting doesn't take long, you walk in the booth. Lay a coat on all the pieces and walk out. Total time consumed in set up and paint is less than 2 hours.

Totals
$125 for paint
3 Hours of prep and paint.

So at your figure of $700 you are paying the guy nearly $200 an hour to paint

Uhm how about no? lol

So if you don't know what you are doing or how it works they take advantage of you. The guy that did my kit was happy to get paid shop time to paint it, he even then got paid to help me install it and I threw him a tip. Don't let them take advantage of you, most of the time you're paying for is them waiting/working on something else.

01-09-2013 12:00 PM

crice8

Quote:

Originally Posted by A7xschecter6661

Absolutely lol. I know somebody for everything.
I do paint myself though, the only reason I did not paint the pieces is I don't have a painting area during the winter.

Yeah my car did not come with painted door handles or mirror covers as it was an se. so I was having the 3dcarbon front lip and the primered handles and mirror caps all painted at the same time. My quotes just to have these items painted ranged from $290-428. And that was just to have them painted. I found a guy who did body work on the side for cheap but even then it cost me $220 and he was doing it out of his garage with his paint setup. When i asked a couple of the body shops what the whole kit would cost to be painted( i had 4 unpainted full kits at the time and 5 of varying colors at my apt haha) they said somewhere in the ballpark of $575-700 to paint the full kit. I sold the fully pre painted kits to members on here for $350 shipped lol

01-09-2013 11:36 AM

A7xschecter6661

Quote:

Originally Posted by crice8

While you got a spectacular deal on the painting price, it will be very expensive for others to have theirs painted. For the front lip alone to be painted was going to be over $150 anywhere I went. Unless a member gets very lucky like you did they will easily pay more for having the kit painted than the $442 for the kit.

Absolutely lol. I know somebody for everything.
I do paint myself though, the only reason I did not paint the pieces is I don't have a painting area during the winter.

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